


Tennis Matches

by TheSteinsGateFormula



Series: That universe where Karma and Asano are brothers and everyone else suffers because of it. [2]
Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Akabane Karma & Asano Gakushuu are Siblings, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brothers, Post-Canon, Tennis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:41:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29031852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSteinsGateFormula/pseuds/TheSteinsGateFormula
Summary: Gakushuu sighed, running a hand down his face. “…My partner pulled out.”“What you and Ren do in your spare time is none of my business,” Karma replied dryly.His brother whacked the side of his head. “Shut up.” He scowled. “I need a tennis partner for the game next week."
Series: That universe where Karma and Asano are brothers and everyone else suffers because of it. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129826
Comments: 4
Kudos: 89





	Tennis Matches

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Whoops guess this is a one-shot series now. 
> 
> (Karashuu Prompt Day 3 - Ice Skating; though I'm not sure this qualifies.)

Karma tugged on the collar of his blue polo-shirt, feeling too hot as the sun beat down on them at the tennis tournament. He fiddled with his racket while he stood next to his brother while a bunch of other kids who were competing in the nine to ten years matches filtered around getting ready.

“It’s too hot!” Karma complained, hitting his racket on the ground.

Gakushuu glared at him. “Don’t do that.”

Karma grimaced, glaring at him before crossing his arms. “I don’t get why mom couldn’t come.”

Their mother always brought them snacks to eat and tasty drinks.

“She’s busy.” Gakushuu replied dismissively, looking at the other opponents.

Karma scoffed. “More like she just doesn’t wanna be near dad.” His brother looked a little surprised like Karma was too stupid to notice how much their parents hated each other. “Where’s dad anyway?” He swung the racket. “He’s taking forever.”

His older brother looked annoyed, standing still while he fidgeted. “He’s signing us in, there might be a line.” Gakushuu grabbed his collar to yank him back when he waved the racket too close to other people. “Stop it, you’re gonna knock someone out!”

Karma rolled his eyes. “Yeah so?” He’s knocked plenty of people out; he remembered the last martial arts competition when their father had been proud when he’d knocked his opponent unconscious and praised him when he’d broken another’s ankle. “They shouldn’t be in the way.”

Gakushuu’s brow furrowed, but before he could reply, their dad walked over, gaining their attention.

“I’ve signed you in,” their father said, looming over them. Still dressed like he usually did while being principal of the private school he ran, like it wasn’t his day off; Karma could never understand how he could wear his suit in such a heat, but then again there were lots of things about their father that didn’t make sense. “Your first match is in forty minutes.”

Gakushuu nodded curtly, looking serious like usual. “Alright.”

Karma swung his tennis racket back and forth and looked up at their dad. “Who are we against?”

Their father glanced to the side at a pair dressed in lime green and white. “The taller one Yamamoto and the shorter Ohayashi. They’ve never made it passed second place.”

“Hm.” Gakushuu scrutinised the two boys. “Well, this should be good practice.”

Karma grinned, punching his shoulder. “Yeah, it’ll be easy!”

“ _Karma.”_ Their father’s voice cracked like a whip, making the red-head tense and look up in fear. “Nothing in life is ever _easy_ , what did I tell you about becoming complacent?”

Karma hunched his shoulders up, holding his racket to his chest like a teddy bear. “Um…not to?” He grimaced when his dad’s gaze narrowed. “That it’s bad because…”

“Because the strong can become weak if they lower their guard,” Gakushuu informed promptly.

Their father’s gaze softened. “Exactly.” He raised an eyebrow at Karma. “And considering how long it took you to master tennis, Karma, you have no room for complacency.”

_It didn’t take him that long! Gakushuu was just faster…_

Karma’s cheeks heated up a little as he ducked his head. “Right…” He clutched the racket tight, feeling a swell of anger mix in with insecurity.

“Nevertheless.” Their father sighed, smiling politely. “You’re both ready to compete.” He looked down at Karma expectantly. “And what do we do when facing our opponents, Karma?”

“We crush them.” A sharp smile tugged onto Karma’s lips. “Because we’re strong.” He remembered repeating the same manta when driving his fist into another boy at school’s face because they’d made fun of his name. “And the strong don’t show mercy or weakness.”

His dad’s smile grew proud, patting his head. “That’s right, Karma, well said.”

Karma smiled, lapping up the praise while Gakushuu looked annoyed.

“And what’s the most important thing the strong do?” their father asked him, smiling warmly.

Karma’s smile bared his sharp teeth. “They do whatever it takes to win!”

* * *

Karma had his headphones on full blast when his brother marched into the guest (his) room on the second day of the summer break after the first semester of high school.

Gakushuu threw a tennis racket and ball on the bed, and was speaking, but Karma’s music was blaring too loud for him to hear anything.

Karma blinked and watched his brother ranting for a solid two minutes until Gakushuu caught on and yanked the headphones off.

“Are you even listening to me?”

Karma shrugged. “No.” He glanced at the racket on the bed. “Is it about tennis?”

Gakushuu sighed, running a hand down his face. “…My partner pulled out.”

“What you and Ren do in your spare time is none of my business,” Karma replied dryly.

His brother whacked the side of his head. “Shut up.” He scowled. “I need a tennis partner for the game next week.”

Karma raised an eyebrow, twirling the racket in his hand. “Yeah, and?”

Gakushuu pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, if you do this I’ll buy you that stupid game you’ve been wanting, the one adult-rated one.”

“How?”

“I have connections.”

“Of course you do.” Karma snorted, bouncing the tennis ball up and down on the racket tauntingly. “But I already got it.”

Bitch-sensei hadn’t even asked any questions when he’d requested for it for his birthday; she’d just handed it over no fuss.

His brother’s eye twitched. “Then what do you want?”

Karma grinned. “I don’t know…” He sighed loudly, tossing the ball higher up and down, no even looking. “It’ll be a high price…”

“Just tell me what it is?!” Gakushuu snapped.

He smirked, catching the tennis ball mid-air before it hit the racket. “Dad’s trying to _parent_ me again.”

“Why?” His brother raised an eyebrow. “I thought he’d gotten the hint by now when you stuffed the wasabi in his coffee?”

Karma shrugged. “Yeah, I thought so too, but he’s stubborn,” he replied, sighing. “He’s trying to get me enrolled in ice-skating again.”

“Oh God…” Gakushuu ran a hand down his face. “Why?!”

“Because he’s a stage dad?” Karma shrugged again. “I don’t know, do you remember him giving an explanation for half of the shitty clubs he made us join when we were kids?”

Gakushuu sighed. “Fair point.” He shook his head. “But ice skating, really?”

“I know right? I mean last time I nearly caved a kid’s head in with the skates, but apparently, that’s not an issue.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I need you to distract him, keep him busy so he forgets I exist again for another six years.”

His brother sighed. “So he can enrol me in ice skating instead?”

Karma grinned. “Yeah, hopefully.”

“God I hate you,” Gakushuu hissed.

He laughed, tossing him the tennis ball. “Well, then, you better hope Ren has a good aim on the court like in—”

“Okay, fine!” he snapped impatiently, sighing. “It’s a deal.” His eyes narrowed. “But you better take this seriously.”

Karma gave him a taunting smile. “When don’t I?”

* * *

“Whoa!” Isogai ducked when the ball nearly hit his head. “Uh, guys! You do know this is just practice right!?”

Maehara was out of breath, nearly keeling over onto the grass of the high school tennis court. “Yeah! Calm down!”

“If you can’t keep up then you’re welcomed to leave?” Gakushuu huffed tapping the tennis racket against his leg. “I am not going to lose just because you two are soft.”

Karma rolled his eyes, stretching. “Alright, calm down, Mr Perfect. It’s a local match, not the grand slam tennis finals.”

His brother huffed and walked off to grab some water.

Isogai sighed, walking over to the net. “So he’s still as competitive as ever...”

Karma shrugged. “Yeah, he’s a control freak.” He picked up his bottle from the side. “It’s why he’s more aggressive in tennis.” He drank some water. “We once put a kid in the hospital in our first match when we were kids.” He grinned when Isogai and Maehara choked. “Dad was so _proud!”_

“…Your family are demons,” Maehara said, looking disturbed.

Karma laughed. “Probably.” He glanced at Gakushuu when the boy returned.

“Um, maybe you should talk to him?” Isogai smiled sheepishly. “Remember Koro-sensei’s rules to live by?”

Karma’s chest twisted at that, gripping the water bottle tight when he thought about their deceased teacher. “Yeah…”

“Are we playing or not?” Gakushuu tapped his racket against his leg impatiently.

Maehara rolled his eyes, moving away from the net. “You’re the one who walked off to grab a drink.”

Karma drank some water before putting the bottle down. They started to play again, Karma kept his eyes on Isogai’s movements and the direction of the ball, as well as Gakushuu’s movements as well.

Isogai and Maehara had the better reflexes but he and Gakushuu had more power and accuracy behind their hits.

Gakushuu grunted and hit back each serve, moving faster each time and hitting twice as hard, until he missed, falling onto the grass when the ball bounced passed.

“Damn it.” Gakushuu smacked the grass with his fist while Maehara and Isogai high-fived.

Karma rolled his eyes. “Calm down, drama-queen.”

Gakushuu growled and got back on his feet as the game resumed.

Karma hit the ball back, Isogai nearly tripped to hit it back before it bounced out. He smiled, enjoying the game as he worked up a sweat, remembering some of the fun that came with competing—

Gakushuu hit the ball back to fast and knocked Maehara out with one clean hit to the forehead.

“Maehara!” Isogai yelped, running over to the unconscious boy.

Karma paused, blinking a few times in surprise when he saw his friend on the floor which a round bruise on his forehead.

“…Oh.” Gakushuu looked faintly surprised.

“Asano! What the hell!?” Isogai yelled, kneeling by Maehara’s side.

“…My apologies.” Gakushuu shrugged, walking over while Karma ducked under the net to the where the two were. “It wasn’t my intention.”

Karma checked Maehara’s pulse to see if he was alive. “Well, he’s not dead.”

Isogai looked angry. “This is serious!” He hoisted a braindead Maehara up onto his shoulder. “If you can’t play safely then you’ll need to practice on your own.“

“It was an accident,” Gakushuu stressed, but Isogai was having none of it and glared at him, which caught even him off guard.

Karma stepped back when Isogai moved away, carrying Maehara. “You need any help?”

Isogai sighed, shooting them an irritated look over his shoulder as he grabbed his and Maehara’s tennis rackets. “I need to take him to the nurses' office – you’ll have to practice without us.”

Karma grimaced as he watched them leave. “Wow, nice going, _big bro.”_

His brother bristled. “I wasn’t trying to hurt him!” He grimaced, watching the two boys leave. “…I suppose, I may have gotten slightly carried away…”

Karma scoffed, scratching the back of his head with the tennis racket. “You think?” He sighed, grabbing his towel off the grass. “Look, I’m up for having some fun and bodily harming someone like the next person, but you gotta chill.” He tossed the towel at Gakushuu’s face. “I’m not playing this stupid tennis match if you just want to go about it dad’s old ‘we have to destroy our enemies our we’re failures’ method.”

Gakushuu grimaced, taking the towel off his face. “This coming from the sadist.”

Karma shrugged. “I might be a sadist, but at least I’m not uptight about it.” He raised an eyebrow. “You’re acting like if you lose this competition you’ll impale yourself with your racket.”

_Which would be hilarious, but probably not what Koro-sensei would have disapproved of._

“…There’s nothing wrong with wanting to win.” His brother sighed, grimacing. “Besides, you’re the one saying we should go at our opponent like we’re going to kill them.”

_True…that was fun. But, Gakushuu wasn’t having fun, he was just getting more and more stressed like their father was right there watching and counting every mistake with a disapproving look._

Karma thought about Koro-sensei’s advice. “Yeah, but what’s the point if you aren’t having fun?” He frowned, remembering Koro-sensei’s gentle words of wisdom and pats on the head. “There’s no point winning for the sake of winning.”

Gakushuu was quiet for a moment, his brow furrowing. “…Yes, well. What do you propose then?”

Karma poked his brother’s head with the racket. “Try being less of an uptight prick might do the trick.”

Gakushuu scowled, pushing the racket away. “Then how about you try to be less annoying?”

He shrugged, turning away. “Hey, I’m the one doing you a favour here.” He walked over to the other side of the court. “Come on, we’ll play singles for a while until you can be trusted not to knock out our practice buddies.”

His brother scowled, muttering darkly under his breath. “…Tsk.” He took a deep breath and tossed the towel to the side. “Fine.” He sighed, calming down. “So long as you put up a decent fight – we both know I’m the better player.”

Karma grinned sharply. “Aw, you think? That’s cute.” He threw the ball up and down before serving the ball like he was shooting a bullet through the air. “But you’re not as good as you think you are, second place!”

* * *

“Wow, is it me or did the players get uglier?” Karma said while cleaning wax out of his ear while they stood by the sidelines, waiting their turn.

Gakushuu sighed, leaning against the railings while they observed the first match. “Do you ever consider thinking about what you say before you blurt it out anyway?”

Karma rolled his eyes and slouched on the railing. “Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“Hey!” Nagisa walked over with fresh bottles of water; his newly short hair partly hidden in a sunhat. “Sorry, the lines are really long so Ren’s still waiting for his order at the cafe.” He looked around curiously. “I didn’t realise the local matches were so popular?”

“It’s mainly students from rival schools,” Gakushuu replied curtly.

“Which makes it more fun beating them.” Karma smiled, taking the water from Nagisa. “Thanks.”

“Yes, thank you.” Gakushuu took the water and drank.

Nagisa leaned against the railing, watching the game. “They’re fast…”

Gakushuu hummed, eyes like a hawk when the scrutinised the two boys playing. “They’re national champions; Suzuki and Kato…”

“National champions?” Nagisa looked impressed.

Karma yawned loudly. “Yeah, but so what? They’re barely a big deal.” He stretched. “I heard one of them wet their pants once during a game.”

Nagisa sighed. “Why am I not surprised you know that?”

Gakushuu sighed, drumming his fingers against the railing. “None of that matters considering how good they are.”

Karma sighed, nearly rolling his eyes but stopped when Nagisa nudged him pointedly. “The game hasn’t even started yet, why are you stressed?”

“Because I have to stay focussed,” Gakushuu replied tensely, gripping the rail too tight.

He grimaced, shuffling closer to him as Nagisa moved further back to give them space. “Yeah, except you’re focusing on the wrong thing.” He flicked his head. “Think about it.”

“Hey.” Gakushuu glared at him, rubbing his forehead.

“If you focus on not failing you're just gonna get worked up,” Karma advised, remembering Koro-sensei’s past lectures. “You have to focus on your targets and working together.” He narrowed his eyes at the two boys they’d be facing, taking a second to judge the slight tremor in Kato’s grip. “Everything else is secondary.”

Gakushuu stayed quiet for a moment, staring ahead before he took a deep breath. “I assume all this is coming from that bizarre ex-teacher of yours?”

Karma shrugged, smiling crookedly. “It tended to be his usual spiel.”

His brother huffed, frowning as he looked ahead, quiet for a few seconds as his shoulders relaxed.

“…Suzuki is breathing more heavily, his stamina is low,” he said evenly. “He may be fast, but that won’t last with how much he’s overexerting himself.”

Karma nodded, smirking as he rested his chin in his hand. “And Kato’s grip is loose, his hits aren’t as powerful; he’s relying more on Suzuki.”

The corner of Gakushuu’s lip curled upwards. “I observed that as well.”

Karma bared his sharp teeth. “Good, because I had a few suggestions.”

* * *

“Wow, congratulations, guys!” Nagisa said, gathering around with the rest of the others when the matches were over and Karma was holding the First place trophy they’d won.

“Nice game.” Ren grinned, tossing Gakushuu a towel before leaning on his shoulder. "You guys made a good team."

“Yeah, you guys were great!” Nagisa said as they moved away from the court. 

"Of course." Gakushuu wiped the sweat from his face, scowling when Ren tried to make him drink some water by pressing the bottle to his lips. "I would expect nothing less." He grabbed the bottle and nearly knocked Ren over when he shoved him away. "Besides this is hardly our first doubles match together."

“We weren’t bad.” Karma grinned, admiring the trophy which was two tennis rackets and a ball with their names engraved.

Gakushuu smirked. “It was a good match wasn’t it.” He smiled and waved at Kato and Suzuki who were passed out from exhaustion and being carried off by stretchers. “They put up a good fight.”

“Yeah.” Karma sipped his water while he watched the medics try to re-hydrate their opponents. “They lasted longer than I thought.”

Suzuki and Kato were being hooked up to a drip while their parents and friends were gathered around in concern.

Nagisa looked mildly disturbed. “Um, are they going to be alright?”

Ren shrugged, smiling nervously. “Uh…hopefully.”

Gakushuu shrugged. “They’re just dehydrated and exhausted, hardly life-threatening.” He scrunched the water bottle up and threw it in the recycling bin. “Shall we go out for refreshments to celebrate?”

Karma clapped him on the back while holding the trophy up higher. “I’m voting chilli!”


End file.
